Wrapping machine



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WRAPPING MACHINE- Filed May 5. 1957 17 Sheets-Shet 17 Patented Aug. '29, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WRAPPING MACHINE John Walker Chalmers, Deptford, London,v England, assignor to Molins Machine Company, Limited, London, England Application May 5, 1937, Serial No. 140,977

- 8 Claims.

This invention is for improvements in wrapping machines and has for .one of its objects to provide an improved machine for wrapping articles, for example, cigarette packages, in transparent wrapping material formed from a cellulose derivative, one form of such wrapping material being known by the registered trademark Cellophane.

Some features of the invention are the provision of improved apparatus for feeding wrapping material to the machine and for preparing the wrapping material for the application of adhesive thereto, and an improved adhesive applying device. Other features will be described herein and set forth. in the appended claims.

Where herein the term adhesive is used it is to be understood as including cellulose solvent such as are used when wrapping material is formed from cellulose derivatives.

The accompanying drawings in which like references refer to like or similar parts, illustrate a machineconstructed in accordance with the invention.

In the drawings- Figure, 1 is a side elevation of the wrapping machine. I I

Figures 1a, 1b and 10 show the lower part of Figure l drawn to an enlarged scale.

Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1 with the top structure removed.

Figures 2a, 2b and 20 show Figure 2 drawn to an enlarged scale.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation taken along.

the longitudinal centre line of the machine as viewed in Figure 2. v

Figures 3a, 3b and 30 show Figure 3 drawn to Figures 11 and 12 show an adjustment for one s of the folding elements shown in Figures Ho 10. Figure 13 shows a detail'of Figure 2 drawn to an enlarged scale.

Figure 14 is an end elevation of a part of Figa magazine 20 and they are delivered by gravity on to a plunger 22 which finally delivers them on to the bed 2| of the wrapping machine. The

plunger 22 removes the articles from the bottom of the magazine one at a time, the step 23 of the plunger engaging with the rear end of an article, and moving the article forwardly beneath a plate 223. wrapping mechanism by the plunger 22 in two stages, the first stage being effected by the face 23 and the second stage by the face 224 whilst a projection 24 secured to the plunger 22 engages with the underside of an article. Opera tion of the plunger 22 is effected by an arm 25 connected with a crank 26 which is driven from themain driving shaft 21 of the machine. The crank 26 is supported by a spindle 30 and. a bevel gear wheel 29 on the spindle 30 intermeshes with a bevel gear wheel 28 on the shaft 21 thereby transmitting motion from the shaft 21 to thespindle 30.

Whilst the face 224 is moving an' article into engagement with a wrapper a second article is carried beneath the plate 223 by the step 23 and.

- the bulk of the articles contained in the mag- The articles are moved to the I azine are supported by the upper face 225 of the plunger. On the return stroke of the plunger 22 the rear end of said second article is engaged by catches 226 pivoted at 221 and controlled by springs 228. The catches 226 are opened by the article on its forward movement but once past them the catches are sprung into position behind the article to arrest its movement on the return stroke of the plunger. A spring 229 which projects through the plate 223 presses the said second article on to the bed 2! when the face 224 of the plunger has moved beyond the rear end face of the article. During this return stroke the next article which is lying on the surface 225 is engaged by the rear of the magazine and pushed onto the lower surface of the plunger where it is engaged ,by the step 23. It will be seen, thereforathat on the next for-- ward stroke of the plunger 22 a further article will be moved out of the magazine 20 and the face 224 of the plunger will engage the article pressed onto the bed of the machine by the spring 223 and the article so engaged by the face 224 will be moved into engagement with a wrapper blank which has been fed transversely into the path of the article.

The wrapping material is fed from a reel 3| and is passed over guide rollers 32, 33 and 34' and so to cutting mechanism described below.

The guide roller 34 is carried by an arm 35 secured to a spindle 36 and is controlled by a further arm 31 also secured to the spindle 36 and a spring 38 one end of which is connected with the arm 31. As can be seen from the drawings, the reel support 239 is arranged to support two reels of wrapping material so that as little time as possible is lost in changing reels when one reel is finished. This arrangement of two reels on a support is not, however, novel, but is commonly used on wrapping machines.

The web of wrapping material after passing the guide roller 33 is moved into engagement with an adhesive applying device which comprises, in the form shown in Figures 1 and 3, an adhesive container 39, a pair of transfer rollers 40 and 4| which transfer the adhesive from the container 39 and a pair of discs 42 which are arranged to engage with the web of wrapping material at pointsadj'acent the longitudinal edges thereof and to apply adhesive at the required positions along the length of the web. A doctor 43 is arranged to scrape excess adhesive from the surface of the transfer roller 49.

As will be seen from Figures 1 and 3, the guide roller 34 is arranged so that when the wrapping machine is being operated, the roller 34 presses the web of material into engagement with the discs 42. When, however, the machine is stopped] it is desirable that the web of wrapping material should be moved out of engagement with the discs 42. The arms 35 and 31 may, therefore, be pivoted about the axis of the spindle 36 and away from the disc 42. The arrangement of the guide roller 33 and the roller 44 around which the web passes to the cutting mechanism is such that the web will be arranged in a straight line which is tangential to the rollers 33 and 44 when the guide roller 34 releases the pressure which presses the web into engagement with the disc 42. When the pressure is released, therefore, the web moves for a short distance away from the surface of the discs 42 as indicated in chain line in Figure 1.

An alternative'but preferred form of web feeding apparatus for use in the wrapping machinebeing described is shown in Figures 4 and 5, and from Figure 4 it will be seen that the web of wrapping material as it passes from the reel 3| is passed over a pair of brushes 45 and 46 (Figure 5) and beneath a movable surface with which the brushes co-operate, the movable surface being shown in the drawingsas a plurality of freely rotatable rollers 41. As can be seen from the drawings the bristles of the brushes are inclined in the direction of movement ofthe web. It will be appreciated that if desired, instead of a movable surface co-operating with the brushes, a fixed surface may be used. A movable surface is, however, preferable, because it is not necessary to wipe that surface of the web which is engaged by the movable surface and by using a movable surface the friction on the web is less than it would be if a fixed surface were used.

some other substance which is used in the manufacture of the material. By passing those portions of the web which are to have adhesive applied thereto between the brushes 45 and 46 and the moving surfaces 41 in a manner such that the brushes press on the surface to which the adhesive is to be applied,the surface of the wrapping material is wiped in a manner such that a satisfactory line of adhesive may be applied to the material so that when the wrapping material is folded about the article the adhesive will cause the folded portions of the material to adhere to each other in a much more satisfactory manner than is the case when the wrapping material is not treated in the manner above described.

The brushes 45 and 46 are mounted on a support 48 carried by an eccentric spindle 49 disposed in bearings formed in the support 239. A catch 58 is pivoted to the support 48 and is controlled by a spring 5| which urges the catch 58 against a projection 52 secured tothe plate 53 upon which the frame 239 and the adhesive applying device is supported above the bed of the machine. As can be seen from Figure 1, the plate 53 is supported by pillars 54 and 55. When itis desired to thread a web of material to the wrappingmachine, the catch 50 is moved to the left of Figure 5, thus allowingthe support 48 to move downwardly away from the moving surfaces 41.

It will be seen that in the alternative construction shown in Figure 4 the adhesive applying device is different from that shown in Figure l, in that the transfer rollers 48 and 4| are dispensed with and the discs 42 transfer the adhesive directly from the container 39 to the web of wrapping material. In the construction shown in Figure 4 the discs 42 are mounted for rotation in bearings carried by a bracket 56 secured to the plate 53, the arrangement being such that the container 39 can be removed for the purposes of cleaning and re-filling without disturbing the setting of the discs 42. In this construction the doctor 43 is also mounted independently of the adhesive container 39 and' is carried by a support 51 pivoted at 251 to the frame 239. An eccentric pin 258 is provided to adjust the support 51. By rotating the support 51 the doctor may be adjusted relatively to the discs 42.

The adhesive applying device is rotated by the main shaft 21 through bevel gears 58 and 59, the gear 59 being secured to a spindle 60 to which a further bevel gear 6| is secured, the gear 6| intermeshing with a further bevel gear 62 secured to the spindle 63 to which the transfer roller 40 is secured in the construction shown in Figure 1'.

In the construction shown in Figure 4 the discs 42' are secured tothe spindle 63 instead of the and also to mechanism which forms a tab or tab portions at one end of a wrapper blank. In the construction shown in Figure 1 the roller 44 over which the web of wrapping material is passed after leaving the adhesive applying device, comprises one of a pair of rollers arranged to knurl the web of wrapping material at positions where tongue or tab portion or portions is or are to be formed.

An inset 86 is secured to the roller 44 and is 78 operating with a fibre inset 61 carried by a roller 68. Wrapping material which is formed from a cellulose derivative is difficult to knurl and it is found that a fibre inset gives better results than would be obtained by a rubber roller or other surface co-operating with the inset B6.

The rollers 44 and 68 receive motion from the spindle 60 by means of gearing (not shown). The co-operating insets 66 and 61 form two side by side knurled portions on the web of the paper, which portions conform substantially to the shape of the tongues or tabs later to be formed. When however only one tab is to be provided only one set of insets is used.

After passing the knurling device the web is passed to slitting mechanism comprising two cutting elements II and 12, the element I2 having, when two tabs are to be provided, two substantially semi-circular cutting edges which cooperate with the fixed knife II, the cutting elements I2 being secured to a roller I3 for rotation therewith. The two cutting elements I2 are arranged in combination with the knifell to slit the web of material about those portions which have been knurled in the manner above described. After the slitting operation the web is passed between guides I4 and I5 and is fed by pulling rollers I6 and TI to a fixed knife I8 with which co-operates a rotatable knife I9, the knives-I and I9 being arranged to sever a wrapper blank from the web of wrapping material. v

The knives I8 and 19 are arranged to slit the web transverselyof its length the transverse slits communicating with the semi-circular slits already formed in the web at points adjacent the ends of the semi-circular slits, thus causing a I6.and T'Iare driven from length to be severed from the web which has two tongues or tab portions 80 which project beyond an .edge of the wrapper so formed, see Figures 15, 16 and 19.

The opposite end of the wrapper blank is pro videdrwith two out out portions which correspond with the tab portions formed on the preceding blank. The transverse slits formed by the cutting elements "18 and I9 do not meettthe extremities of the semi-circular slits formed-by the cut- .ters-II and 'I2 -because it would be difficult so to arrange the cutting elements, but principally because if the edge of the wrapper is weakened it ismore easily torn when a tab 00 is gripped and pulled to open the wrapping. Each of the tab portions has, therefore, slits 8I which are continuations of the semi-circular slits and which extend beyond the edge of the wrapper blank The. cutting element 12 and the pulling rollers the spindle 10 by means of a bevelled gear 82'secured to the spindle 60' and which intermeshes with a further bevelled gear -83 secured to the spindle 84 of the rotatable cutter I9. To the spindle 84 there is also secured a gear wheel 85 from which motion is transmitted to the rollers 16 and I1 and the cutting element I2 through a train of gears 86, 01, 88, 89, 90 and SL The end portion of the web of wrapping material passes through a slot 92, see Figure 2, in the bed 2I of the machine before a wrapper blank is severed from the web and the end portion of the web is guided into position by a guide 93 which is movable towards and away from the bed 2| of the machine The guide 93 is supported by arms 94 pivoted to levers 95 secured to a spindle sition to apply adhesive 96. One of the levers 95 is a double arm lever, one arm of which supports a cam follower 91 which co-operates with a cam 98. see Figure 3, the cam 90 being operative to reciprocate. the uide 93.

The movement of the plunger 22 so timed article tobe wrapped blank approximately that the leading face of the engages with the wrapper at the moment it is severed from the web, and the continued movement of the plunger 22.causes the wrapper blank to be trapped between the top plate 99 and a movable guide I00 which is at that time flush with the surface of the bed 2I. The movable surface I00 is supported by arms IOI secured to a shaft I02 and a further arm I03 is also secured to the shaft and carries a cam follower I04 which co-operates with a cam I05. A spring I06 maintains the cam follower I04 in contact with the cam I05. The cams 98 and I are mounted on ashaft I01 and the shaft I0'I is rotated by a bevel gear I08 which intermeshes with a bevel gear I09 carried by the main shaft 21.

As the wrapper blank and article are moved beneath the top plate 99 and over the support I00 and so on to the bed of the machine to the right of.the support I00, the wrapper blank is folded into aU form as shown in Figure 15, the lower limb of the U being of a length substantially equal to the length of the article as can be seen in Figure 15, whilst the upper limb of the U is longer than the lower limb and is arranged to be folded against the rear end face of the article and into contact with the lower limb of the U in the manner shown in Figure 17.-

- In order to permit'the projection 24 on the plunger 22 to pass the position which the suplimb of the U from engaging the undersurface of the article when the wrapper blank is folded into a U about the article, and the purpose of maintaining this end portion of the wrapper material out of engagement with the article is to ensure that whilst adhesive is' being applied to the end portion of the lower limb of the U the This movement is portion to which the adhesive is applied is supported by a rigid surface against which it is 'possible to applya relatively hard pressure whilst applying the adhesive to the end portion of. the wrapping material.

It will be appreciated that the articles being wrapped are in many instances of a soft 'nature, particularly is this the case when the .articles are cigarette packages, and that in'such cases it is difficult properly to apply adhesive to the wrapping material due to the fact that as the adhesive applying device presses against the wrapping material the article is compressed and a considerable part of the pressure applied for the purpose of applying the adhesive is, therefore,

lost.

Whilst the plunger 22 is moving the wrapper and the article into the position at which the wrapper is folded into a U about the article an adhesive applyingdevice is to the wrapping material. The adhesive applying device comprises a container IIO mounted onspindlcs III for rotation in bearings fitted in the bed of the machine. The container H0 is provided with a 

